Vegan creamy courgette pie
A comforting, creamy pie made with an oat milk sauce packed with cannellini beans and vegan soy chunks for texture and a protein boost.
Ingredients
For the pie filling
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 160g/5¾oz vegan soy chunks
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 courgette, peeled and roughly chopped
- 120ml/3¾fl oz white wine
- 100ml/3½fl oz oat milk
- 1 lemon, all of the zest and half of the juice
- 200g/7oz baby spinach
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 400g tin cannellini beans, including half the liquid from the tin
- handful freshly chopped flatleaf parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pastry
- 1 sheet vegan ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
To serve
- freshly steamed Tenderstem broccoli
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
To make the pie filling, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the vegan soy chunks and fry so that they are nicely coloured. Set aside.
Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil, shallots and courgette and fry for 5–7 minutes until the shallots are softened.
Deglaze the pan with the wine and remove any charred bits from the bottom. Pour in the oat milk, lemon juice and zest and season with salt and pepper.
Using a hand blender, blend the vegetable base until fairly smooth. Add the baby spinach, nutritional yeast, beans (and liquid from the tin), parsley and the browned vegan soy chunks. Stir to combine and cook for another 5–7 minutes until the spinach is wilted. If your sauce is too thick add in a touch more oat milk.
Transfer the mixture to a 800ml/1½ pint pie dish. Cover the pie dish with the puff pastry, trim off any excess pastry (this can be saved for use in another dish). Make a hole in the middle of the pastry to allow the steam to escape and crimp the edges using a fork.
Glaze the pasty by brushing the oil over, this will create a golden colour once baked.
Place the pie on a baking tray and bake for about 20–25 minutes until the pie top is golden and flaky. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes then serve with the Tenderstem broccoli on the side.
Recipe Tips
The standard pastry stocked in supermarkets is typically vegan, but check the packet to be sure.